Dispensers for medications, such as pills, are known to the prior art. Such dispensers have been employed for one or more purposes including: alerting the patient or medical personnel as to the desired timing of medication administration; indicating that a particular medication dosage has been administered; and preventing the administration of a medication overdose.
One prior art medication dispenser is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,369,697 issued Feb. 20, 1968, to Jay Glucksman et al for PROGRAMMED MEDICATION DISPENSER. The Glucksman dispenser is a timed dispenser which dispenses medication at preselected time intervals. A timer actuates a control system which, at selected intervals, allows passage of desired medication dosage to a delivery station. The timer is then deactivated till the dose is removed from the delivery station. In this manner, dosages cannot accumulate at the delivery station and the patient is positively prevented from inadvertently obtaining excessive dosages within an unduly short period of time. A light is employed to signal the presence of a dose within the delivery station.
A similar system is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,968,900 issued July 13, 1976, to Stambuck for TIMED MEDICANT DISPENSING DEVICE in which preselected dosages are contained within a ball. The balls are housed within a dispenser and are delivered to a dispenser tray at preselected intervals. An electrically operated alarm audibly notifies the patient to remove the balls from the tray and the alarm continues to operate until the balls are removed. The clock drive employed by the device is de-energized until the balls are removed. As a result, a patient cannot take the medication more often than the time intervals that have been preselected.
Dispensing systems intended for use by medical personnel are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,601 issued Oct. 2, 1973, to McLaughlin for CABINET FOR DISPENSING MEDICINES AT PREDETERMINED TIMES and U.S. Pat. No. 3,998,356 issued Dec. 21, 1976, to Christensen for ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS FOR ARTICLE DISPENSING APPARATUS. In each of these systems, individually controlled compartments are allowed to be opened only at preselected times during the course of a day. Thus, access to the medication is restricted and, accordingly, the possibility of an overdose is reduced.
In addition to the above, various mechanical systems that indicate, on a daily basis, that medication has or has not been taken are known to the prior art. Representative examples are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,584,598 issued June 15, 1971, to Gayle et al for PILL DISPENSER WITH INDICATING MEANS and 4,126,247 issued Nov. 21, 1978, to Majka for PILL DISPENSER. Each of these devices contain a plurality of pills and provide a visual indication as to whether a particular pill intended for a particular day has, in fact, been dispensed.